To the Editor:

After attending the recent Future of Guilderland Schools Summit, Dr. Wiles, district administrators, and the communications committee of our board of education deserve a genuine round of applause for making the event happen. Thank you as well to the other board members who attended the event, devoting yet another evening to the betterment of our schools.

Emerging from the evening, however, are two requests for Dr. Wiles and the board to consider.

First, many of the comments put forward on Nov. 19 (and over the past six months) reflect that the nidus for the summit is Guilderland's budget problem, not capacity problem.

Participants at the summit not only discussed strategic use of our buildings but also offered ideas for alternative streams of revenue to the district, and increasing the visibility and desirability of the district through tactful marketing — and resonating through these discussions I heard a theme of valuing our educational program; making decisions that will not jeopardize the quality of a Guilderland education.

Unless the district offices and board of education are seriously committed to further researching all of these ideas, with a self-imposed timeline for reportable results, I ask that the board consider expediting creation of citizen advisory group to let this happen.  We have residents involved, engaged, and ready to help.

Speaking from firsthand experience attempting to reach out to other districts, unsanctioned calls are futile. The district claims it is receptive to community input, and the recent summit supports that claim.

Now the real question, the time to determine if the district will be content that voices were heard, or truly interested in a collaborative direction now that the community has spoken.   

Second, will the district please create a Q & A (question and answer) link on the Building Capacity Study page of our school district website? This format will enable residents to pose questions, which the district will then answer to the best of its ability.

At the summit, the community was asked for our thoughts and opinions on potentially major changes regarding our facilities and educational program. Once again, these questions were posed in a vacuum of information.

Since the release of the capacity study, I have heard numerous residents ask questions of the district that administrators were unable or otherwise unwilling to answer — important questions spanning various but relevant issues of impact, including transportation figures, anticipated rental values, estimated renovation charges, etc.

Instead of facts (or educated estimates), we hear vagaries such as “we need to look into that”  or “we do have more homework to do.”  Informed decisions are needed; informed decisions require information.  The time is overdue for the district to provide these details. 

Jodi Novak Wey
Altamont